They say love conquers all, even drives out hate. But can it change a politician's mind about the excessive prison terms that some people are serving for nonviolent crimes?

Alicia Keys certainly hopes so. She posted a tongue-in-cheek video asking Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to be her Valentine. She wants him to "spread some love" by helping to bring a justice-reform issue to vote in Congress. She was very coquettish in the video, which is a great way to bring attention to the cause.

"Dear Paul. Can I call you Paul?" Keys starts off sweetly. "I recently saw a picture of you working out and I was like, 'Mmm, I never saw the speaker of the House working out before. He must be cool.'

"Show me how cool you are," she said before going in for the jugular. "In fact, you can even maybe be my Valentine if you help me spread some love. Help bring justice reform to a vote so we can keep families together, and reunite those that have been unjustly torn apart by excessive incarceration instead of just getting the help they needed."

She then asked everyone to write Ryan a Valentine encouraging him to do so by visiting Weareheremovement.com.

Advertisement

"You're welcome in advance for the thousands of love notes that are coming your way," she said. "I think you're special, and keep me posted about all of our progress and how we can work together. Sincerely, Alicia Keys," she said, before blowing a kiss.

Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele is a staff writer at The Rootand the founder and executive producer of Lectures to Beats, a Web series that features video interviews with scarily insightful people. Follow Lectures to Beats onFacebook and Twitter.